Following confirmation of the Nipah outbreak in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, the former Health Minister and senior ruling CPI(M) MLA K K Shailaja said that the state had nothing to worry as the situation is not as scary as it was in 2018. She said that the southern state has a protocol and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to effectively fight the infection and prevent its spread. Shaiaja was the Health minister in the previous LDF government, which fought the first Nipah outbreak in the state.
Speaking to reporters, she said that in 2018 the virus was new to the state and that they didn’t have any experience battling it but now everything is in place to “contain it effectively”.
There are Nipah testing facilities in the state but the declaration of virus infection can only be made by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
"We have the facility. We tried it out during the first bout in 2018 at Kozhikode. But the declaration can only be made by NIV, Pune," the senior CPI(M) MLA was quoted as saying by PTI.
Talking about the COVID-19 outbreak, she said that the state had taken special permission from the Central Government to declare COVID results from the virology lab at Alappuzha.
The central team visited Alappuzha, did the test themselves, and permitted Kerala to release the results, the former health minister said.
"When COVID spread to its peak, we got permission to conduct the tests at the Medical College labs and to release the results. As far as Nipah is concerned, we can release the results only if we get special permission from the Central Government," Shailaja said.
Nipah, a brain-damaging virus has killed two people and infected three others in Kozhikode district. On Wednesday, a 24-year old health worker became Kerala's fifth confirmed Nipah case since its recent outbreak.
Out of the three infected persons under treatment, the condition of a nine-year-old boy continues to remain critical, and the government has ordered monoclonal antibodies from ICMR. It is the only available antiviral treatment for Nipah virus infection, though it has not been clinically proven yet.
The virus strain seen in the state was the Bangladesh variant that spreads from human to human and has a high mortality rate, though it is less infectious.
In the wake to stop the spread of the rare and deadly Nipah virus, the state government shut some schools, offices, and public transport on Wednesday. The state government on Wednesday evening said at least 706 people, including 153 health workers, were undergoing tests to check the spread of the virus. While the outbreak this time took place in Kozhikode, minister Veena George said the entire Kerala is prone to getting such infections according to WHO and ICMR studies.
The neighbouring Tamil Nadu state has also announced that travellers coming from Kerala would be subjected to medical tests and those with flu symptoms would be isolated, according to a PTI report.
Awards For Beating Nipah In 2018
Chemistry teacher-turned-politician KK Shailaja won accolades for containing the Nipah infection effectively in 2018. She was lauded for her swift response, as she set up a team to combat the virus.
It was this that increased her popularity and in the 2021 polls, she won from the Mattannur constituency, with a margin of 60,963 votes, the largest electoral margin ever in the state assembly history.